To be a bit wtf at this home bargains christmas jumper?

[Effinell]

I seen this when I was in store today and it just didn't sit right with me. I do have a neurodiverse DD so that might be colouring my view slightly.

What a delightful sentiment, & not in the least ableist.
I'm on the website now, searching desperately for a jolly jumper that proudly announces "I'm having an epileptic fit". While it's in the wash, I'll proudly sport the "my catheter is leaking" cardigan, maybe over that nice "I'm having a panic attack" t shirt.

It's not funny to those of us with ND kids. An ND child having a meltdown is something else most people would not want to experience imho. But each to their own I guess!!

A gentle YABU OP - it's not exclusively used for the type of ND meltdown you're talking about and never has been.

While it also has that meaning, it's not the case that it was only used for e.g. meltdowns occuring with autism and then became co-opted to talk about other stuff, as is the (very annoying) case with stuff like "I'm a bit OCD", "I'm a bit bipolar" etc. Those are diagnoses that only ever meant one thing and now are shifting to include non-clinical, euphemistic uses.

I agree that it'd be useful to have a term that referred to the specific type of ND emotional overwhelm episode you're referring to help distinguish, but this word isn't currently it, so its widespread use isn't disrespectful or rude.

(Both DH and I are ND, so I'm not coming at this from a place of ignorance or rudeness!)

People have been using the tern "meltdown" long before it was ever associated with autism. Sorry if it offends someone, but that's just life!

[quote PinkyU]@DockOTheBay if you look at the evolution of the word to mean an altered physical or emotional state you’ll see it has its roots “mainly) in the autistic community and the proliferation of it within this community and with autistic experts, in autistic publications has culminated in it being appropriated by the NT community as a synonym for tantrum when it’s entire purpose was to differentiate between the two for the absolute benefit of ND people.[/quote]
Sources? I searched and couldn't fine any.

I could only find the dictionary definition which doesn't relate it to autism.

dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/meltdown

Also plenty of discussion regarding other forms of meltdown such as this one:
cae.edu.sg/understanding-emotional-meltdowns/

As opposed to an autistic meltdown

[quote PinkyU]@DockOTheBay if you look at the evolution of the word to mean an altered physical or emotional state you’ll see it has its roots “mainly) in the autistic community and the proliferation of it within this community and with autistic experts, in autistic publications has culminated in it being appropriated by the NT community as a synonym for tantrum when it’s entire purpose was to differentiate between the two for the absolute benefit of ND people.[/quote]
Hogwash! That's completely made up. You have clearly not looked into the etymology of the word.

People were having meltdowns long before autism started using the word. It has been around since the 20s according to a google search. Autism (according to another google search) was first recognised in 1943. It think it is perfectly acceptable as a jumper. Now I will read the full thread ...

that is the 1920, not the 2020s!!

Also general use by a psychologist:

www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/young-people-close/201306/having-meltdown

@ChargingBuck

What a delightful sentiment, & not in the least ableist. I'm on the website now, searching desperately for a jolly jumper that proudly announces "I'm having an epileptic fit". While it's in the wash, I'll proudly sport the "my catheter is leaking" cardigan, maybe over that nice "I'm having a panic attack" t shirt.

Those are clinical terms/phrases, though, created for a specific medical context. As a PP has pointed out above, 'meltdown' was not created specifically for people with autism, and has been used in the same context as the jumper almost since it started being used to describe nuclear reactors. That it was a useful term to encompass the experience of autistic people doesn't mean nobody else is allowed to use it. My DH is autistic, and I'm not trying to negate that some people might view the jumper differently with their experiences of autism in mind, but to call it ableist is a stretch.

Seriously 🙄

Looks OK to me. And yes I'm having one!

@CorrBlimeyGG

when NT people say they're having a meltdown?

I'd assume they're ignorant.

ND people don’t own the word or concept of a meltdown! It was around and in common usage for many years before it became associated with autism.

@zurala

Not just you op but a lot of people in here are very ableist, perhaps without realising. It's an awful jumper that makes light of being autistic.

Snowmen are more likely to melt than people with autism.

DS1 thinks it is cringey but ok. If you really NEED to have a christmas jumper more than you need your grandkids to have the opportunity to die of old age, go ahead. Consume some more tat

I'm more bothered by the lower case i to be honest. But I'm a teacher so that's probably why.

Do you not think it’s because he’s a snowman ,and he’s melting ..
So melting down ..meltdown …I’ve asd ,I’m not offended

@PinkyU

The issue is that the language has been appropriated by the NT community to mean a tantrum, and so now, the neurodiverse community have no language that expresses the biological phenomena that they actually experience during a “meltdown”.

And worse, when a ND person does experience a “meltdown” it’s conflated with tantrum and the ND person is not only not offered the correct support they are often judged and treated appallingly for “misbehaving”.

Is meltdown a medical term based on biology?

It's not necessarily refering to autism, everyone can have something resembling a meltdown sometimes, especially at Xmas maybe. The term can be used in other contexts, not just autism.

Ableist folks like those on this thread are why I have to specify 'autistic meltdown' instead of just saying meltdown.

Even then, folks who aren't neurodivergent still don't understand.

I am 39. I experience both autistic meltdown and autistic shutdown.

Neither are funny. Both involve a distressing lack of control. Frightening, distressing, embarrassing, shaming, soul destroying - these are all things other neurodivergent folk like myself feel about actual meltdowns.

A toddler tantrum might seem the perfect behaviour to describe with the term meltdown, but it very much is not the same. Similarities in places like reasons for, and processes, but they still are not the same.

The jumper would be something my two autistic children and my autistic self could laugh about between us, but I very much would not wish to encourage NT friends or strangers to join in on that because it's not appropriate.

Why does it upset you so much? Why would other people using words associated with autism anger you?

My DS is ND and if I saw it in store I'd probably think about buying it.

Although we experience his neurodiversity fairly mildly with regards to behaviour. If it was more of a struggle, I'm not sure I'd find it so funny. Maybe a wry smile and move on type sentiment.

YAB a bit U.
I have an autistic child but this wouldn’t bother me at all.

I had no idea the expression was reserved for ND people and would never have thought that if I read it on a jumper. I’m 53. It’s generally quite a common phrase mostly used to describe toddler of teenage behaviours - I have what I would call meltdowns every now and again when I would start yelling about mess and chucking stuff in the bin - a bit of a tantrum.

Just because I am bored, I looked up the etymology of "meltdown".

From Merriam-Webster:

Definition: the process or course of melting something (as scrap metal or ice cream)

Meltdown appears to have begun being used as a noun in the 1930s. Many of the earliest citations we have are using the word in a somewhat technical sense, in the jargon of ice cream manufacturers, to describe the rate at which ice cream returns to a liquid form. By the 1950s meltdown had begun to be used in reference to “the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor,” and now can also refer to any general rapid and disastrous decline.

Online Etymology Dictionary:
meltdown (n.)
by 1922 as "an act or the process of melting metal;" by 1956 in reference to the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, from the verbal phrase (1630s), from melt (v.) + down (adv.). Metaphoric extension "breakdown in self-control" is attested since 1979.

I am not sure where the poster who is saying its roots are in the autistic community is getting the information from? I can't find anything about that at all.